 |
|
|
Whitaker, Mirren find Oscars glory
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
US to issue ‘tough’ message to Musharraf
Iraqi
Vice-President escapes blast
Nepal Govt to seize King’s property
Indian students hit by new UK law
Fire in B’desh highrise, 3 dead
City council to set barking dog time limit
|
|
Whitaker, Mirren find Oscars glory
Hollywood, February 26 Whitaker's mesmerising performance as the brutal Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin, in the acclaimed drama "The Last King of Scotland", re-established him as one of Hollywood's biggest talents after he faded from view following a meteoric start to his career. Whitaker prepared extensively for the part of the ruthless African strongman, learning Swahili and practicing Amin's accent after poring over books and hours of tapes and documentaries. Helen Mirren, who won her first Oscar for her stoic portrayal of Britain's monarch in "The Queen," began her career as a sex symbol but attracted equal attention playing strong, resilient women. Long considered the favourite to take home the coveted Oscar statuette, Mirren fought off stiff competition from Penelope Cruz (“Volver”), Meryl Streep (“The Devil Wears Prada”) and fellow Britons Judi Dench (“Notes on a Scandal”) and Kate Winslet (Little Children”). Though she once dismissed the Oscars as "the creme de la creme of bullshit," Mirren (61) caught the Academy's eye twice before with nods for “The Madness of King George” (1994) and 2001's "Gosford Park." In her award-winning turn, Mirren depicts Queen Elizabeth II as a resolute sovereign, bound by tradition and protocol, who wrestles with public pressure to shed her veneer of propriety and grieves alongside the nation after Princess Diana's death. Martin’s crime thriller triumphs
Martin Scorsese finally won the Oscar for Best Film Director with the crime thriller, “The Departed”, ending one of the highest-profile losing streaks in the event's history.
Paradoxically, his victory came for a populist effort that was released with no intentions of seeking awards. Returning to his crime roots, Scorsese gathered an all-star cast, headed by Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon to fashion a story about official corruption in Boston. ''We wanted to make a nice genre movie and look what happened,'' said Scorsese (64) as he arrived at the Oscars with his daughter. It quickly became the biggest film of his career, selling more than $131 million worth of tickets at the North American box office. —
Reuters,
AFP Al Gore wins
“An Inconvenient Truth,” the big-screen adaptation of former US Vice President Al Gore's slide-show lecture about the perils of global warming, won the Academy award for Best Documentary. The award went to director Davis Guggenheim and producers Lawrence Bender and Laurie David. “I have to thank Al Gore for inspiring us, inspiring me, showing that caring about the Earth is not Republican or Democrat. It’s not red or blue, we are all green,” – ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ song-writer Melissa Etheridge.
|
|
India's hopes of bagging the elusive Oscar were again dashed today as Deepa Mehta's “Water”, which was nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category from Canada, lost the race to “The Lives of Others' from Germany. Dealing with the lives of widows in 1930s India, “Water” was nominated by the Academy last month. The film competed with “Pan's Labyrinth” (Mexico), “After The Wedding” (Denmark), “Days of Glory” and the German Cold War drama, “The Lives of Others”. Present at the Oscars ceremony were the director of the film Deepa Mehta, its Canadian producer David Hamilton, the film's lead actor John Abraham and actor Seema Biswas. — AFP
|
|
US to issue ‘tough’ message to Musharraf
Washington, February 26 The decision came after the White House had concluded that Musharraf has failed to live up to the commitments he had made to Bush during a visit here in September last,The New York Times reported. Musharraf had insisted then that a peace deal he struck with tribal leaders in areas bordering Afghanistan would not diminish the hunt for the leaders of Al Qaeda and the Taliban or their training camps. Now, American intelligence officials have concluded that the terrorist infrastructure is being rebuilt, and that while Pakistan has attacked some camps, its overall effort has flagged. "He's made a number of assurances over the past few months, but the bottom line is that what they are doing now is not working," one senior administration official was quoted as saying. "The message we're sending to him now is that the only thing that matters is results." Democrats, who took control of the Congress last month, have urged the White House to put greater pressure on Pakistan because of the statements from American commanders that units based in Pakistan, linked to the Taliban, are increasing their attacks into Afghanistan. — PTI
|
|
Iraqi
Vice-President escapes blast
Baghdad, February 26 The employee said it had appeared that a mortar round had hit the Public Works Ministry
building. He said he had thrown himself on top of the minister at the time of the blast. It was unclear weather the attack was an assassination attempt. —
Reuters
|
|
Nepal Govt to seize King’s property
Kathmandu, February 26 A council of ministers met at Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's official residence here and decided to set up a ministerial-level committee to nationalise the property of late King Birendra, late Queen Aishwarya and King Gyanendra. The committee, headed by minister for Physical Planning and Works Gopal Man Shreshta, includes minister of State for Information and Communication Dilendra Badu and assistant minister for General Administration Dharma Nath Prasad Shah. The cabinet also officially condemned as “unconstitutional” and “undemocratic” the King's Democracy Day message in which he defended his power grab two years ago. Badu said the meeting decided to “respect” the interim legislature-parliament's proposal to initiate action against the King for his controversial message. In his address to the nation on the Nepalese Democracy Day earlier this month, King Gyanendra said he was compelled to seize power because the government had failed to conduct elections and provide public security. — PTI
|
|
Indian students hit by new UK law
London, February 26 HSMP holders, who had come to the UK with a promise of visa extensions based on economic activity and permanent residence for four years, have been left vulnerable and devastated due to the new drastic changes, a forum for the affected students said on Sunday. "The changes, brought in November 2006, did not just affect the HSMP holders but has raised a lot of concern for the future of Indian students who had come to UK for higher education," said Kapadia, director and coordinator of the HSMP forum. Many of the Indian students, after completing their post-graduation and other courses, had switched to HSMP as in-country applicants, but are now realising that the new changes may not lead them anywhere. Most of these experienced professionals have spent more than 20,000 pounds on their studies and have switched to HSMP programme after finishing their courses. — PTI
|
|
Fire in B’desh highrise, 3 dead
Dhaka, February 26 Two of the victims died of burn injuries in a hospital while another died after jumping from the sixth floor of the building, doctors and witnesses said. More than a hundred persons were rescued, but many are still feared trapped. The cause of the fire and the extent of damage is not known. Witnesses said fire fighters were still working hard in the afternoon to put out the blaze. The Army, the police and the Rapid Action Force also joined the rescue effort. The building, in the Kawranbazar business district of Dhaka, houses NTV and RTV stations and the Amar Desh newspaper, all owned by a former member of Parliament. Survivors said around 2,500 people worked in the building on normal work days. —
Reuters
|
|
City council to set barking dog time limit
Clifton, February 26 Later this month, the council is expected to introduce an ordinance setting a limit on how long dogs can bark. Noisy canines will be defined as those that bark for more than 30 minutes on two consecutive days. Getting a summons is rare, because the person who complained must go to court to sign a complaint. Fines for the new ordiance could start at $250. —
AP
|
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
